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Let's face it, 2020 has been a pretty shit year in a lot of ways, but for new music, it's been pretty darned good. I listened to more new music this year than ever before I reckon. We all had a fair bit of spare time didn't we? Anyhow, this is my favourite albums for 2020. I may add to it, because I'm still getting through them. I even recently discovered at least 3 that would've made last year's list, had I heard them last year. Surprisingly, as with last year, I can't separate the first 3 for album of the year. To avoid a shit-fight (with myself) the first 3 are simply listed in the order in which I heard them. The rest are in no particular order, just as they came to mind. Cheers. UNLEASH THE ARCHERS - ABYSS A band I got into a couple of years ago. You'll see why. This is killer stuff all the way from Canada. The previous album was awesome but they knocked it out of the park with this one. ELEINE - DANCING IN HELL Dark Symphonic Metal from Sweden. F*****' EPIC stuff. Once again, previous album was fantastic, this one is even better. Big things will happen with this one. SORCERER - LAMENTING OF THE INNOCENT Epic Swedish Doom, reminded me of Tony Martin era Black Sabbath, and anyone that knows me knows that I don't throw that sort of thing around lightly. You know when you stop and actually look at the stereo (or whatever device is playing the music) and just go, 'Whoa', yeah, I did that when I heard this the first time, still do in fact. I think I'm gonna play it again now! MORS PRINCIPIUM EST - SEVEN Another band that had slipped by me, another pleasant discovery for 2020. I'm shit at naming genres but I would say 'technical' melodic death metal, from Finland. This is on HEAVY rotation lately. DRACONIAN - UNDER A GODLESS VEIL Gothic Doom band from Sweden. I only discovered these guys earlier this year and couldn't wait for this album to be released. I wasn't disappointed. MARKO HIETALA - PYRE OF THE BLACK HEART You know him from NIGHTWISH and TAROT, he of the 'out there' beard and booming voice. This is a really good album from his 'other' band (which he doesn't like being called his solo band). VANISHING POINT - DEAD ELYSIUM Solid album from the veteran Melbourne band. Great songs, good production. Check it out. I've seen them a couple of times over the years, always a good live gig. For those that need help, a 'gig' is when a band plays live, we used to have them often. Hopefully we will again soon. In the meantime, crank this sucker loud in your car with the windows down, if you're indeed allowed outside. LOVEBITES - ELECTRIC PENTAGRAM Japanese ladies who know how to rock. Two absolute freaks (meant in an ever so nice way) on guitar that mesh very well together and drive the songs along at (sometimes) a quite furious pace. I've made some excellent discoveries from Japan in the last few years, this is no exception. BRON - PRED DVERIMA NOCI This one 'landed on my desk' purely by chance. Atmospheric Black Metal. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking 'what the fuck?'. Check it out first. But be warned, there are only 3 songs on the album , the shortest being nearly 16 minutes long. It's a trip, man. WOLFHEART - WOLVES OF KARELIA Another brutal, brooding slab of meat from the Finnish band. Awesome stuff. BROTHERS OF METAL - EMBLAS SAGA These guys (and girl) are nuts. Don't believe me? Watch for the foot at 3:19 in the following video. Ridiculously catchy, sing along, fist (and foot) in the air stuff. BURNING WITCHES - DANCE WITH THE DEVIL First album with new singer, Laura, and we've had a line-up change since it's release. These ladies know what's required, and deliver once again. Get into it, do it now. MAJESTICA - A CHRISTMAS CAROL This is the album you should hear played in the shops at Christmas. This is the way to enjoy Christmas again. Get this album and crank it loud and spread Christmas cheer. It's not a Christmas covers album. It's a Power Metal smackdown of the well known story, 'A Christmas Carol'. Get into it. CONCEPTION - STATE OF DECEPTION The band have reformed after getting Roy back from KAMELOT, okay, so it didn't happen exactly like that, but it is good to hear his voice again. NIGHTWISH - HUMAN :||: NATURE An acquired taste this one, took a while for me, as it's a bit different than the band I got into in 2004. Go in with a very open mind. PRIMAL FEAR - METAL COMMANDO Another solid album from the German band. DESTRUCTION - BORN TO THRASH As luck would have it, when Covid hit, DESTRUCTION had a recent live recording available and it was a ripper so they put it out for us to enjoy. AMARANTHE - MANIFEST It's always hard to pigeonhole AMARANTHE, heavy, yet not, 3, yes 3 vocalists, all VERY different from each other. They are OUT THERE. Check the following video and see what I mean. GOTTHARD - 13 11 albums go to number 1 on the Swiss charts. Hard rock done very well. Check them out if you haven't already. H.E.A.T. - H.E.A.T. II Formed in 2007, but sounding very reminiscent of the 80s. A very polished album. Special 'out of zone' mention. KANSAS - THE ABSENCE OF PRESENCE Surprised? I sure was. Previously I could name 2 songs, probably the same 2 you just thought of. This came up as a suggestion on YouTube (probably because I had previously listened to BOSTON) so I checked it out. It's very good. I probably should listen to some more sometime, lol. Well, there you have it. I've learnt my lesson from last year, and that is I will leave this 'open ended' and possibly add to it when I catch up, because it's not big enough already, right?
Cheers. Comments are closed.
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